My New Personal Assistant

By Louise Ure

Last year, when Cara Black and I did a reading and signing at a local library, we were amused when one of the first questions from the audience was about “our staff.”

“What kind of staff and assistants do you have?” the woman asked. “Who does your research and handles the details of your schedule, and your travel? Who answers your fan mail?”

Eye-rolling and guffawing are frowned upon as responses in polite company, so Cara and I both politely said that we had no staff.

In truth, as JT, Zoe and Stephen can affirm, our spouses quite often admirably fill that role, at least in terms of handling the details of travel, getting us to the book signing on time, or making that late night run for a pizza after a speaking engagement. Their worth cannot be overestimated.

But let me introduce you now to a new high tech addition to the team: my new personal assistant, Siri.

Siri is an app for the iPhone and it’s free. It is also the coolest thing to come down the pike since the creation of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.

Siri is a voice activated search tool that combines the best of Mapquest, OpenTable, FlightTracker, Wikipedia and a dozen other online tools.

Say into the phone, “Where’s the nearest sushi restaurant?” and Siri types back a list of nearby eateries, sorted by distance, with directions, menus and reviews. Then she offers to call the restaurant and book a table.

Or you can try to trip her up with a slightly different request. “Siri, what’s the best rated sushi restaurant nearby?” A different list appears, sorted by ratings. In a recent effort to stump her, I asked for the names of Peruvian restaurants nearby that were open for lunch. She found three.

And it’s not just for restaurant info. You can ask, “What literary events are happening in San Francisco today?” Or “What’s the status of United flight 873 today?” Or “Remind me to call Lee on Thursday.” Or “Who was the female General at Abu Ghraib?” (Not only did she correctly hear and understand “Abu Ghraib,” but she came back with the name General Janis Karpinski in about a second and a half.)

The voice recognition capability is far beyond anything I’ve ever tried before. When I asked, “What is psyllium?” she not only understood it, but spelled it correctly. And here I thought I’d get Silly-Um back.

She can call you a taxi, book you a massage and remember the name of the author who wrote that book you loved back in the 1990’s.

And she does it with a smile. There’s actually a playfulness built into the app. When I first started experimenting with it, I replied to one search by saying, “Thank you, Siri! You’re a genius!”

She immediately typed back, “Just doing my job, Louise.”

I now seek out those unexpected reactions from her. On a recent car trip, I asked Siri for a list of the nearest Indian casinos. (I’d just taken my father-in-law to one, and had a yen to continue the experience.) Siri responded with, “Louise, you’re taking enough of a risk just using me!” then proceeded to map out the locations of the nearest gambling palaces.

She’s never going to be that smiling face, beaming with pride at the back of a signing room and she’s never going to carry my bags up the stairs at the cheap hotel in the next town, but she can get me directions to the bookstore and find a pizza delivery at midnight in an unfamiliar city.

And the next time Cara and I are at that San Mateo library and the lady asks, “What kind of staff and assistants do you have?” I’ll have just the answer.

“Siri.”

Now, if I could just get her to come up with some answers on plotting …

The Generosity of Friends

Yesterday I attended a memorial celebrating the life of a wonderful friend, David Thompson, manager of Houston’s Murder by the Book and Publisher of Busted Flush Press. Since his death two weeks ago, plenty of his friends (including me) have posted tearful tributes, so this won’t be another one of those.

But the last two weeks have had me thinking about generosity. David was as generous a soul as this world has to offer. As a bookseller, he welcomed his customers with an infectious smile as if greeting them in his living room. He’d knock himself out to build to-be-read piles filled with books his customers would never find on their own. By handselling books that would be sold no other way, he helped energize the careers of young and independently published writers otherwise forgotten in a world of Wal-Marts and CostCos.

As a Publisher, he not only published but tirelessly promoted the works of his authors. Here he is with our own Zoe Sharp, whose entire Charlie Fox backlist was republished by Busted Flush Press.

The last time I saw David in person was at this year’s Edgar Awards, where David continued his tradition of making sure his nominated authors were there, supported by their publisher – something even major New York publishers don’t always do anymore.

David Thompson and wife, McKenna Jordan, at Edgars 2010And as a friend? As a friend, David was so generous in every way — with his his time, money, humor, and love — that I can’t even begin to offer specifics without risking another one of those tearful tributes.

But David wasn’t the only generous person in this little crime fiction world of ours. Instead, he seemed to exemplify a supportive spirit that permeates our writing community.

Take a look at any of your favorite crime writers’ websites, and you’ll most likely find evidence of generosity. Blurbs. Photographs from joint events. Blog posts describing the emotional support and sounding boards that other writers provide for us when our thoughts go dark or blank.

Who are some of the people who have been generous to me in this writing world? I’ve been blessed to have almost all of my favorite writers read and endorse my work: Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Sue Grafton, Linda Fairstein, Jan Burke, Tess Gerritsen, Tami Hoag, Sandra Brown, Faye Kellerman, Kathy Reichs, and Lisa Gardner. I know these recommendation don’t come solely from generosity. They have to be earned. But these writers are all busy people who could sit back and worry only about themselves, but they’re the types who send the ladder back down for others to climb up, waiting at the top to offer a hand.

And it’s not just the blurbs. Harlan Coben agreed to do a joint event with me when he was booked for The Poisoned Pen in Phoenix on the only day I could fit in a stop over spring break.

Michael Connelly gave me a shout-out in the Wall Street Journal when asked about his summer reading list. Laura Lippman traveled up to New York City on her own dime to address the local chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and all I had to do was ask.

Lee Child’s support could fill its own blog post: giving me a ride from JFK to my parked car at LGA when he knew nothing about me other than the fact that I stupidly managed to fly home from Bouchercon into the wrong airport; helping me fill a Manhattan Barnes & Noble by agreeing to play a much hotter James Lipton by interviewing me for the launch of Angel’s Tip; and let’s not forget about that two-night-stand Jack Reacher had with my Samantha Kincaid at the beginning of Bad Luck and Trouble.

The gang at Murderati has been generous, welcoming me into the fold even though they really didn’t need another blogger, especially one who sometimes goes missing from her computer for a few days at a time when the day-job transforms her into a 24/7 law professor.

Independent booksellers and librarians have been generous, helping introduce my work every day to new readers.

My readers are ridiculously generous, talking up my books to friends and neighbors, sometimes driving hundreds of miles to greet me on tour, and serving as my virtual kitchen cabinet on Facebook. (This week, I think more of my readers voted on my new author photo than in last week’s primaries!)

And where would I be without my people who see me through the dark times? I’ve never been a writing-group kind of writer. No critique exchanges for me, please. As far as actual content goes, I sit in the sandbox by myself until the castle is done.

But having friends who face the same unique struggles of this enterprise — self-doubt, fighting to find writing time and energy, the frustrating publishing industry quirks — saves me a hell of a lot of money on therapy. Some of these people probably don’t even know how much they’ve shouldered me, either day to day or in a singular moment forever etched in memory: Lisa Unger, Maggie Griffin (Partners and Crime books), Teresa Schwegel, Jonathan Hayes, Dan Judson, Karin Slaughter, Reed Farrel Coleman, James Born, Michael Koryta, Ben Rehder, David Corbett, Val McDermid, Chris Grabenstein, Jane Cleland, Margery Flax (Mystery Writers of America), and, once again, Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, and Lee Child.

In the last two weeks, I’ve seen this little crime-fiction world of ours turn on its generosity full force to support Murder by the Book, Busted Flush Press, and David’s widow, McKenna, but it’s a generosity that is always there, benefitting all of us. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that many of us, like David, have found a second family in this world. I wanted to spend today writing about the gratitude that I always feel but am usually too snarky to express.

Who are the people in your lives who have been generous? Give ’em a holla’ in the comments!

“Yes, but . . . “

By Allison Brennan

I stumbled across John Scalzi’s blog last week on writing. I love this comment he made:

Do you want to write or don’t you? If your answer is “yes, but,” then here’s a small editing tip: what you’re doing is using six letters and two words to say “no.” And that’s fine. Just don’t kid yourself as to what “yes, but” means.

We often find ways to lie to ourselves. That the nachos and margarita calories don’t really count because you didn’t have breakfast. That playing video games is honestly creative thinking. Or maybe “I’ll try to write a thousand words today.”

As Master Yoda says, “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

A few weeks ago I blogged at Murder She Writes about how I hate writing speeches, and even the one I did write (and posted here at Murderati) I didn’t really give because I went off on a tangent after page two and I have no real recollection of what I said. But I’m the keynote speaker for the Moonlight & Magnolia’s conference next weekend, and I do need a little preparation. Not a full speech like I wrote but didn’t give to the New Jersey Romance Writers conference, but a loose compilation of thoughts and inspirations I can share with fellow writers.

When I read Scalzi’s blog, I thought of the theme of the conference: “Master Your Story, Master Your Destiny.” Which for writers, I think means:

You have absolutely no control over anything in this business except the effing book, so you’d better damn well write!

Or, we could switch this around and say, “Stop lying to yourself. If you want to be a writer, put your ass in the damn chair and write! If you don’t want to be a writer, why are you sitting here? Master your destiny, then you can master your story.”

Either way, Scalzi and Master Yoda have an important point that it would benefit all of us (including the Queen of Procrastination, Yours Truly) to take to heart. No more buts, no more trying. Say yes and do it.

Whatever “it” is.

So I’m calling on you all for help. Give me examples of how we lie to ourselves, especially to justify not doing something. Or, what you think “Master Your Story, Master Your Destiny” means. I’m also looking for motivational quotes—you know, one of those kick-you-in-the-ass quotes—or a true story that gets you excited to write or do something else you care about. Are there any books or articles out there that motivate you? Whatever you want to share, great!

And as a thank you for your help, I’m giving one random commenter a copy of BLOOD LITE II: OVERBITE, an anthology of humorous horror stories by the Horror Writers Association and edited by Kevin J. Anderson, a prolific and talented writer. I had a lot of fun writing my story!

How far will an elite call girl go to beat a murder rap? Stuck with a dead client in a luxury L.A. hotel room, she might strike a costly bargain with a woman of unearthly powers in Allison Brennan’s “Her Lucky Day.”

Self-expression? Is it?

– by Alexandra Sokoloff

I attended an event last weekend where I was in a mix of people from wildly diverse backgrounds, which included a fairly intimate dinner, and we had a chance to all go around introducing ourselves and what we do, and of course instantly you get that validation of Just How Cool being a writer is if you don’t actually have to do it every day, especially those days when you know you’re never going to get that subplot to work. (Oh! Right! Yes! It’s cool!)

One woman was enthusing about self-expression – how great it must be to live a life that is totally about self-expression. And for the life of me, I couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

But she seemed so sure, and so I tried to get into her mindset, because I wanted to understand, but I didn’t see where the “self” part was coming into it.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but if I pray anything at all before I lie down to work each day (because now you all know I don’t SIT down to work) it’s something like this: “Please God/dess, Universe, Angels, Fairies, Story Elves – let me serve this story and make it whole and somewhat readable and also marketable, please, thank you, Amen, Sat Nam, Ashe, etc.”

It’s not that I don’t put myself into what I write – I know I do. I put my whole life experience and observation into what I write, all the time. I write on the themes and the subject matter I write because I care passionately about those themes and subjects. But what I am and what I’ve experienced and observed and care about is only useful as it serves the STORY. In fact, I myself am only useful as a channel to serve the story (although I have many other fine qualities as a person, but we are talking about me as a writer, now.).

But what this woman said really got me thinking about what we do, as writers – how we define what we do. And self-expression has almost nothing to do with my job description, as I see it.

I think what I do is create an EXPERIENCE for a reader or audience. Reading a book or seeing a film (and I’m talking about fiction, now, and especially genre fiction) is about getting completely out of yourself and going on a journey as someone else, or multiple someones, and LOSING yourself in that experience – an experience that is solely in your mind, but can sometimes be far more gripping than anything in real life.

Actually (and you can tell me if I’m being just too Hollywood for words) – you could say what we do is create theme park rides. Some of them very smart ones, but still, theme park rides. You could also say we create dreams. We take our readers through a dream. And our absolute, bottom-line goal is to create a dream state so hypnotic, so mesmerizing, so enticing – that readers/viewers get lost in the dream. And I’ve actually heard editors say this over and over again on panels – that the number one requirement they have for a book is that it doesn’t break that dream state.

Think about it. Isn’t everyone’s favorite review a sincere: “I couldn’t put it down”?

Hmm, now that I’ve put it like that – are we much more than pushers, really?

Okay, maybe I’m digressing. But now that I have put it like this, do you see what I’m saying when I say that this has very little to do with self-expression and everything to do with being acutely attuned to serving the EXPERIENCE – the needs of a reader/audience?

I am a genre writer. I am very aware that I was continually hired in Hollywood because I could deliver a certain experience of spookiness and sensual chills. As a novelist I continue to deliver that experience of spookiness and sensual chills. I am privileged as a novelist (much more so than I was as a screenwriter) to be able to bring my specific, warped tastes to the stories I tell – but my bottom-line mandate is to deliver the experience.

And my other bottom-line mandate is to serve the story. I am not doing my job, I cannot calll myself a novelist, if I do not deliver the STORY. That is: an uninterrupted dream of an experience, from beginning to end.

Now, as Lincoln said, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.” We need look no farther than our Amazon reviews to realize that not everyone will have the experience of our stories that we hope that they will have. But our best chance of pleasing as many of the people as we can, as often as we can, is being as true to the STORY as we can be. And in my experience, that’s about acknowledging what I want to experience in a story – and then committing to get out of my own way as much as I possibly can, in order to let that experience come through me, unimpeded by some need for “self-expression”, so that I can provide that experience, uninterrupted by ego, for other like-minded people.

This may be an analogy that makes sense only to me, but I will try to explain it anyway. When I got involved with dance, first it was because I was acting, and dance training just increased my chances of being cast in productions I wanted to be in. I worked hard, really hard, to learn the language of dance, to make my body an instrument that was capable of dance. Then I kept dancing even when I wasn’t acting anymore because – well, because the endorphins made me less likely to have a complete nervous breakdown. And I kept dancing and training and improving just because I was actually really good at it and nothing else made me feel so much like myself, and it wasn’t at all about being cast or anything except the fact that not doing it was agony. And then, after all those years, I was actually good enough to get paid for it, pretty much accidentally.

Well, I’m sure a lot of people think dance is all about self-expression. But when for the first time in my first professional show I told a choreographer “That pose doesn’t feel like me,” and he looked at me in that totally dom way that choreographers have and said – “What do you have to do with it?” – it suddenly clicked for me that professional dancing is about serving the dance. I – and my body – were really just props – a medium of expression for something much, much bigger.

And that’s how I feel about my writing. I have honed my “instrument”, as actors say – after years and years of work I have the technical skill it takes to write, to deliver the complete experience of a story. But all of that technical craft is just so that the story can flow through me – from wherever the hell it comes from.

Self has something to do with it, no doubt. But mostly, we have to leave self behind, get out of our own way, and serve the story. And hopefully – hopefully – deliver the experience our readers are looking for, hoping for, wishing for, when they pick up our books.

So am I the only one who feels this way? Do the rest of you, or most of you, feel that your writing is about self-expression? Or how would you describe what it is that you do?

– Alex

NEWBIE NO MORE

By Stephen Jay Schwartz

The day, she has arrived. BEAT hits the stores this Tuesday, September 28. In hardcover and trade paperback simultaneously. So there will be two affordable paperbacks in the stacks at the same time.

And then there’s this little puppy, being released at the same time:

The audio book cover is just sexy enough to make your hair stand on end.

And this old friend…

Will be offered on Kindle at a very reduced price, in an effort to entice some readers who’ve been waiting for a deal.

And my publisher had me write a Hayden short story that we’ll be giving away FREE as an ebook. Called “Crossing the Line,” the story takes us back to Hayden’s early days as a rookie on the force, when he’s just starting his time in Vice. It depicts the moment his addiction first rears its ugly head. A little ditty designed to introduce new readers to the world of Hayden Glass.

The big, fun event I’m doing is happening the night before Bouchercon, on Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00 pm. It’s a launch from the Beat Museum in San Francisco, smack dab in the middle of North Beach, just around the corner from City Lights Bookstore.

Everyone who’s in the vicinity is invited to come. We’re expecting lots of people, mostly authors and attendees of Bouchercon, but also local poets and writers, policemen and FBI agents. BEAT is set in San Francisco, so many of the folks who helped or consulted on the novel will be attending the event.

I hope to see all my Murderati friends in San Francisco. Until then I’m just going to dive into the euphoric chaos of T-minus four days and counting…

I want to thank you all for being so wonderful and loving and supportive and delightful during my one and only debut year. Murderati has been my anchor through the whole experience.

The following are some of the nice things folks are saying about Beat….

“Just as I thought there wasn’t an original take left on the detective novel, along comes Stephen Jay Schwartz and Beat. Fast and slick, this book is a great ride!”

– Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author of the Harry Bosch novels

“Stephen Jay Schwartz writes with a paintbrush and expertly guides us through the gates of hell into a world where sex and violence merge into a toxic yet highly addictive alternative reality. Hayden Glass is a character we’ve not seen before, with fiendish impulses and a desperate desire to overcome his past. This is one of the most darkly sexual books I’ve ever read and I devoured it in one suspenseful sitting. Schwartz pulled me in and held me captive from beginning to end.”

– Katie Arnoldi, LA Times bestselling author of “Point Dume”

“Beat is an old-fashioned nail-biter that the not-too-squeamish aficionado of the hard-boiled genre will enjoy.”

— Kirkus Reviews

“The soiled hero’s relentless interrogation of his motives for pursuing Cora will make it hard for like-minded readers to put down his odyssey unfinished.”

— Booklist

“Glass is tough to like, impossible to admire, but relentless against insuperable odds.”

— Publishers Weekly

And the things folks are saying about BOULEVARD…

“Schwartz is skillful at rendering charcoal-sketch views of the darker corners of Sunset Boulevard, and he dazzles the reader with intermittent flashes of a poetic sensibility…A book full of merit, by an author loaded with talent.”

– Los Angeles Times

“Boulevard is raw, twisted, and so hard-boiled it simmers from beginning to end.”

– Robert Crais, New York Times bestselling author of The First Rule

“Boulevard is terrific. Fast-paced and convincingly told. The streets of L.A. have never been meaner or seamier. Stephen Jay Schwartz’s clear vision and knowing heart make him a gifted writer to watch.”

– T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of Iron River

“Relentless and unflinching, a shocking thriller that dares you to keep reading. Schwartz has created one of the most complex and tortured protagonists I’ve encountered in a long time. A powerful debut.”

– Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli and Isles series

“Like James Ellroy, Schwartz can make the reader squirm…Schwartz does a fine job of blurring the lines between sexuality and violence, the criminal world and the police world.”

– Publishers Weekly

“Schwartz hasn’t missed a trick in this gripping first novel…He skillfully develops Hayden’s flawed character, showing him to be decent, haunted, and sometimes loathsome. Most important, he artfully builds tension and suspense into horror and finishes with a stunning Grand Guignol climax. Expect much more from this talented writer.”

– Booklist

“Plot twists and turns plus an unusual denouement make Schwartz an author to watch. Mystery fans who enjoy reading about the mean streets of L.A. (a la Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, T. Jefferson Parker) will devour this.”

– Library Journal

“Boulevard is a mesmerizing read; Schwartz has drawn a swift, brutal and compelling portrait of a nightmare underworld of Los Angeles and a protagonist tormented by his own sexual addiction as well as by a real human evil. Boulevard is one of the most compelling books on addiction I’ve ever read, wrapped up in a gripping thriller.”

– Alexandra Sokoloff, ITW Award-winning author of The Unseen.

“Dark and gritty, Schwartz’s dicey debut is seriously twisted.”

– Robert Ellis, national bestselling author of The Lost Witness

“A lurid nightmare tour through dark streets and dark minds. Stephen Jay Schwartz writes with the fevered intensity of early James Ellroy.”

– Marcus Sakey, author of The Amateurs

“Tightly written and wildly original, you’ll be thinking about this story long after you close the covers. Sex-addict Detective Hayden Glass is an unforgettable antihero you’ll love and hate at the same time. Stephen Jay Schwartz is going to give Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch a run for his money. Boulevard is just plain excellent.”

– J.T. Ellison, bestselling author of The Immortals

“Boulevard is one of the most riveting debuts I have ever read. Stephen Schwartz has written a story that will enthrall you, haunt you, disturb you, and keep you thinking long after you’ve finished reading it. Once you begin this book you won’t be able to look away.”

– Brett Battles, Barry Award winning author of Shadow of Betrayal

“Stephen Jay Schwartz is a brave and gifted author, and Boulevard is an electrifying journey into sinful delights and escalating evil. Morally sound, addictive as a speedball, and rich with insight into human frailty—this novel kept me awake and disturbed my dreams in all the right ways. Lock your doors and read it.”

– Christopher Ransom, bestselling author of The Birthing House

“This may be Stephen Jay Schwartz’s first book, but you’d never know it from the writing. Or the plotting. Or the characters. Boulevard is all adrenaline, a spiraling dance of doomed souls in the best tradition of L.A. noir. The streets here are so well drawn you can almost see the heat shimmering off the asphalt and smell the exhaust as hookers, cops and addicts of various kinds do their perpetual dance. Hayden Glass is a cop with a secret, a secret that not only endangers his search for a vicious serial predator, but also brings Glass to the jolting realization that he is somehow part of the predator’s scenario. From the first scene to the dead-stop conclusion, Schwartz never lets up, and his story lifts a corner of the social fabric and peers beneath it to shine light on a part of the urban world that most of us, if we are lucky, will never be part of.”

– Timothy Hallinan, bestselling author of Breathing Water

One of My Favorite Times of Year

by Brett Battles

One of my favorite times of year has always been the fall. Not because of the weather and beautiful colors (though I LOVE them), and not because it’s football season (go 9ers, despite the slow start). It’s because it’s the start of the new network television season.

Now, things have been changing for a while on the television front. There was a time when there was just the three big networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC), and they would go ALL OUT to get viewers attention for their fall lineups. They’d do huge image campaigns, use catch jingles (often based on older song…anyone remember “Still the One” for ABC?), and otherwise pull out all the stops. This kind of all out blitzkrieg marketing pretty much stopped sometime in the late 90s. I actually worked on one of the last ones for ABC…it was the one where we had these giant As, Bs & Cs that the cast members of the various new and returning shows could play on and we filmed them. It was fun, but, honestly, there’ve been better campaigns and worse.

Anyway, campaigns weren’t what I wanted to talk about, the point I was trying to make was that the disappearance of campaign happened because the networks were no longer the only game in town, and the networks fall lineups lost some of their luster because there were so many other choices out there.

Why? Cable, of course. At first channels like FX and TNT and SY FY (then SCI FI) were just places for old movies and network returns, but then cable channels started branching out and running first run programs on their own. And they did this with zero regard to the usual show launch season.

The Fall.

That really changed things.

Nowadays shows are launched year round – January, May, June, whenever a show is ready to go (that’s not completely true, but close enough).

But while the networks might have lost some of their edge, they have hung on to their fall tradition (admittedly with some spring shows thrown in and an emerging summer season). And since this still represents a majority of new show debuts, I still look forward to it.

You see, to me, there are few things on television more interesting than the pilot episode of a series. This is the episode that sets everything that follows up. And, quite honestly, is often the worst episode of the whole run. That said, I love to watch pilots. I love to see how the show’s creators set up their worlds, how they introduce their characters, how they set the tone and pace for the series.

I think watching these is a great exercise for writers no matter what genre or type of writing you might do. It’s a quick way to see multiple creative efforts to bring new realities to life in a relatively short period.

More times than not these newly created realities fail quickly and are yanked from the schedule. But even for the ones that do succeed, often it’s despite pretty sucky pilots.

But, as they say, you sometimes learn more from the bad than the good. So pay attention and take notes because a bad pilot is likely to have any or all of the following: cliché characters, cliché settings, cliché set-ups, and, well, just clichés, also story logic issues, undervaluation of view intelligence, poor casting choices, and just plain bad dialogue. What’s not to learn from that? (I was kidding about the taking notes part. Well, half-kidding, anyway.)

Perhaps the show pilots that have the hardest are the ones for series where each episode is basically a one-off story. In other words, what happened last week has no baring on what’s happening this week. In those cases, show producers (or, most likely, network executives) feel the necessity of establishing the ground rules of the series (who, what, where, when and why…with the occasional how thrown in) right in that very first episode. That means their shoehorning in a TON of information they seem to think you need to have now.

Sitcoms, in particular, are subject to this. And when you shoehorn something in, something else has to go. And when you shoehorn in a lot of somethings there is little room left for the show to be what its creators had envisioned. Don’t believe me? Choose a favorite series, then go back and watch the very first episode and you’re likely to see what I mean. Everything that comes after is more natural, because the show is able to breath.

Perhaps the pilots that have it easiest are the ones for series that have continuing stories, so that they don’t feel pressured to get everything out right away. In fact, some of my favorite pilots are in this category: LOST, Twin Peaks, Arrested Development, Band of Brothers…just to name a few.

But no matter how good or bad, I love pilots. They’re just…interesting to me. If you’re a writer, or just a fan of how stories are put together, I urge to watch as many of these pilots as you can. In other words, I give you permission to watch TV all week.

So, what’s your take on the first episode of a new series? Have you watched any of the ones this fall? Any loves or hates so far? And what have you learned?

The Nomad

by J.D. Rhoades

(Note: this is the “workspace” post that was displaced last week because of our mourning for our friend David Thompson.)

I’ve really enjoyed having a look at the workspaces of other writers. And I have to confess, I’m a little jealous of some of them, particularly Tess’ attic office. I always wanted to write in a garret.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t really have an office to myself. I’ve always had to do my writing wherever I can find a quiet space. And with two kids in the house, quiet spaces have been kind of hard to come by for the last few years.

I do some writing on an old computer that’s tucked into a nook near the front door. It’s a nice nook, with a good computer desk, bookshelves, and a big bay window. It’s where I wrote my first three books.

Only problem is, it can get a tad noisy. The house has a very open floor plan, which is one of the reasons we bought it. But it also means that the kitchen is a few feet away from the space you see here. The family room is just past that. If anyone’s watching TV and commenting on it (and they usually are) it’s like they’re in the room with you. So I move to the bedroom. Sometimes to the bed:

Or, more recently, to a little desk we set up by the window:

Only problem is, my wife goes to bed early, and she likes to spend some time alone with a book beforehand, usually starting right after dinner, which is when I start writing. And, day or night, if laundry needs to be put away, she’s in and out of the room a lot (and trust me, in this house, the laundry piles up fast). So I move to the front porch:

Or the back deck:

(I find that the torches add a nice barbaric ambiance to the whole enterprise).

Only problem is, when it rains, or it’s really hot, or really buggy (and in North Carolina in the summer it’s liable to be at least two of those things) it’s hell to try to write outdoors.

But now that The Boy’s left for college, he’s graciously given me permission to use the desk in his room (and to close his door). Lynn spent two days cleaning it up and we had to haul a huge box of trash out of there, but it is a right cozy little spot, and quiet, and I finished the first draft of the WIP there.

Only problem is, it reminds me of how much I miss him.

As for process: I didn’t outline the first book at all. As I’ve gone along, I have started outlining more and more. Only problem is, by the time I start getting the words down on paper…well, you know the old military adage that “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”? Well, no plan of mine survives first contact with the actual characters. They take one look at the plot I’ve so carefully laid out for them, laugh derisively, and go “as if.” Then we’re off to the races. It’s hard for me to plan more than a few chapters ahead after that. Even with that minimal level of planning, the little boogers still insist on doing pretty much as they damn well please and refusing to even get their obstinate selves onto the page if I try to force them. Bastards.

Interview with thriller writer Lisa Black

Today I offer a real treat: an interview with Lisa Black, whose background as a forensic scientist brings realism and details to her thrillers that few other authors can offer.

1. Your new book is Trail of Blood, the third novel featuring forensic scientist Theresa McLean. Tell us about the plot, and what inspired it.

Trail of Blood emerges from the true story of a serial killer who terrorized Cleveland during the Great Depression. He was brutal, prolific and never caught—the American version of Jack the Ripper. There are so many factors that make this a fascinating story. He actually cut his victims to pieces and wrapped them in newspaper—neatly. Eliot Ness was the safety director of Cleveland at the time, after cleaning up Chicago. The economy had collapsed and people still weren’t over the first world war. There was no DNA testing, no television and no one had ever heard the term ‘serial killer.’

Trail of Blood begins where history leaves off, when the series of murders begin over again. Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean must use her knowledge of both Cleveland’s past and forensic science to discover the secret behind these frenzied crimes and keep history from repeating itself.

2. You yourself are a forensic scientist and a specialist in latent fingerprints. How often do you use real cases in your novels? Any examples?

Most real-life cases are interesting, but not interesting enough to sustain a full length novel. Usually I pick up pieces from real cases, small details that stuck in my mind. Evidence of Murder was the closest to reality: the victim, an escort, came from a case I worked in Cleveland and the (virtually untraceable) method of murder was whispered to me by a medical examiner’s assistant, who had worked such a case in Miami.

3. What’s the most memorable real-life case you’ve encountered on the job?

We had a fifteen-year-old stab his closest friend, another fifteen-year-old, upwards of 175 times because they got into an argument over a video game.

4. Undoubtedly, when you read thrillers written by other authors, you spot tons of mistakes. What are the most common ones? The most annoying ones?

In both novels and film, the most common ones would be a) picking up a piece of evidence before you photograph it and sketch it’s location, and b) then putting that item in a plastic bag instead of a paper one. The most annoying one is the coroner’s or medical examiner’s staff member who has an unhealthy appreciation for dead bodies. I worked there. No one was overly fond of dead bodies.

For novelists who aren’t criminalists, what are the best online or print sources for information?

The FBI and the IAI (International Association for Identification). www.fbi.org and www.theiai.org.

Thanks to the “CSI effect,” I’ve noticed a huge upswing in interest among college students (especially women) who now want careers in forensics. What’s the job market look like these days?

I would strongly suggest that graduates have a backup plan. Crime labs do not employ dozens of people just as they don’t have every piece of equipment known to man. Forensic support services have been expanding and the federal government is kicking in a lot of grant money, but still—there are an awful lot of CSI fans out there! But I would never want to discourage anyone from going into this line of work, because I love it.

Those Pesky Voices

by Pari

I’ve been thinking about the voices that impact my life. I’m talking about the ones I hear when no one else is around. A bevy of naggers, destructors, cheerleaders and optimists that crowd my inner life and influence the way I work, parent, and perceive the world and my relationship to just about everything.

Many cultures believe that naming something gives the namer (yes, it’s not a word, but it should be) –or the named – power. But how many of us have bothered to stop and name our voices? I suspect most of us simply listen without any filters.

Well . . . no more. I’m going to give it a shot right here, right now.

The first are a family of scraggly-haired, snaggletoothed, warty women. They live in the open on a tiny island in the middle of a swamp with an incredible amount of methane gas and sulfur. Only acid rain falls on their muddy, bleak domain. The subsist on moldy, half cooked grains — and bugs — scounged from around their yard. They speak in creaky, cracky, wheedling whispers. The only thing they can successfully grow is decay.

Let’s get out the disinfectant, bug spray, pointed stakes and matches for . . .

Ms. I’m Crap, My Writing Is Crap, My Life Is Crap

Ms. I’m A Bad Mother and her sister Ms. I’m A Bad Wife

Ms. Why Does Everyone Else Always Get All The Attention?

Ms. This Will Never Work

And their cousins Ms. Why Bother? and Ms. I Don’t Deserve Success

Down the road from these maggots masquerading as ladies is a run down cottage. Its walls used to be white and strong, but now they’re a strange combination of peeling, crumbling shades of brown and gray. A spindly hedge with pale green leaves and large black thorns surrounds the thatched round-roofed building. Three middle-aged sisters, wearing torn dresses and stockings with countless holes, hoe and dig in the hard dirt. They think of having a garden someday, but do nothing to improve the soil. They eat gray flavorless foods. Dust covers their expressionless faces.

Hello to . . .

Ms. This is Hard, So Why Don’t I Give Up?

Ms. There’s Never Enough, I Need More

Ms. I’m Selfish For Taking Time For Yourself

and everyday, sometimes more than once, their neighbor stops by: Ms. Clean the F*cking House

Several miles away from the other two dwellings is a modest brick home. Its front yard has beds and beds of herbs – borage, basil, lemon balm, rosemary, lavender and so much more – and fruiting apple, apricot, peach and cherry trees. Hummingbirds, bees, ladybugs, spiders and praying mantises find happy refuge here. In the backyard on the other side of the garden’s fence, chickens cluck. The building’s windows are all open, the doors too. Every room is full of natural light. All are welcome to come in and sit in the kitchen at the large wooden table for a cup of coffee, tea, or a slice of homemade bread with butter and honey. Cello practice, fingers clicking on a computer keyboard, grunts from rigorous exercise, singing and laughter – oh, so much laugher – testify to the health of this dwelling.

Let’s embrace the last of my voices . . .

Ms. Isn’t Life Beautiful?

Ms. My Life Is Filled With Love

Ms. I Like The Person I See In The Mirror

Ms. I Am So Fortunate

Ms. There Is Enough

Ms. Thank You For Absolutely Everything

Ms. How Incredibly Interesting! How Cool!

Ms. Maybe This Would Make A Good Story

and Ms. Why Not?

I’m sure there are more names, more voices. But doing this today, taking the time to name and personify some of them, has been fascinating. I’m left feeling a little naked and, strangely, cleansed, lighter, more powerful.

Tell me . . . Who are your voices?

A Place of One’s Own

by Toni McGee Causey

If we’ve proven anything at all here this week, it’s that there are as many different ways to write as there are people–and no one way is going to work for everyone. In fact, other than using a computer (mostly), we didn’t have that much other stuff in common, across the group.

When we first set out to do this, we invited all of you ‘Rati to participate, and I have loved receiving the photos. We’d stressed “work spaces” all week, and I’m really delighted that we had a couple of people game enough to send us their photos of their job’s work space.

But how to organize them? Finally, they sort of arranged themselves into a sliding scale of “untethered” to “tethered” (more traditional ‘office’). I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Laura Lippman, author of several novels I know you all know from the fabulous interview Alafair did with her a couple of weeks back. Check out her latest, I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE. Laura’s mid-remodel on her home office and has been spending time in many other places – everything from the beach to Starbucks to her kitchen table. Proof that brilliance can occur in any location. Just bring brain.

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M.J. Rose, author of the acclaimed and inventive wonderful novels, which includes her latest, THE HYPNOTIST. As she explains, “A few too many years of having to write on the run – in cars, planes and hospital rooms – forced me to learn to write wherever I was. My workspace became my laptop and the journal that belonged to my main character. So rather than show you any of the multiple places where I write – my office or living room or the local Starbucks – which are all pretty ordinary – here’s my new main character’s journal. I start a new journal for every new book – or in the case of a series – for the lead character in the series. I write in the first person from her point of view and create collages of the images and words that define her and her world. Turn the journal upside down and from the back to the front are research notes not kept on the computer, lists of scenes, calendars, plot charts. While I often yearn to be the kind of writer who has a wonderful office with white boards and has cork walls filled with outlines, I seem to be more productive confined to intimate spaces.”

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Anne Stuart, aka, Krissie, is one of the most fun authors to be anywhere in the proximity of if you’re ever at an RWA conference. Prolific and fabulous, you’ll want to check out her latest historical romance trilogy, edgy with mystery woven through, starting with RUTHLESS. (Oh, and one of the most captivating websites I’ve seen for an author.) That’s Krissie in the front in the red chair and her friend, Sally, writing in the background.

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James O. “Jim” Born… and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it seems like he’s cheating here, somehow. He writes well-loved mysteries, including BURN ZONE. I think we should take a vote in the comments as to whether Jim’s writing or not out there. And then I think he has to invite us all over anyway.

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Lucy March, author of fabulous magical romantic fiction. (I can say that, since I was an early beta.) [You may know Lucy as Lani Diane Rich.] I absolutely love that she gave us a “reader’s guide” to her workspace:

My MacBook, otherwise known as The Precious.
Quilt. In case my toes get cold.
Headset, so I can listen to my soundtrack without making others in the vicinity insane because they’ve been forced to endure OKGo’s “Here I Go Again” for the thousandth time. Although, that’s a truly excellent song, so what are they whining about?
Knitting bag. When the writer’s block gets bad, I knit.
Zoey. Cat. Unimpressed.
Daisy. Cat. Unimpressed and sleeping.
Gym bag. To remind me that if I don’t on occasion leave the house, my muscles will atrophy and I will have to hire a Swedish masseuse to carry me around. Which wouldn’t be so bad, if I made that kind of money. But I don’t, so… to the gym.
Shopping bag, full of the stuff I won’t be able to afford anymore if I don’t hit my deadline. Fear isn’t a great motivator, but it’s effective.
That orange blur? That’s the tape measure I’ve been missing for the last three weeks. Thanks, Toni!
Cat bed. Unused. $10.

(Her blog has generated a huge following–such a great community over there. And you’ll see her latest, A LITTLE NIGHT MAGIC coming soon from St. Martin’s Press.)

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CJ Lyons, who’s not only a terrific author, but is also a physician. It’s not quite right that someone has that much brains, is it? I think, no. Her latest seat-of-the-pants, take-no-prisoner’s medical thriller is CRITICAL CONDITION, out in November. CJ’s visited us here before at Murderati — check out her interview here. I think everyone knows CJ and I have been close friends and beta read each other’s works, but you know you’ve got a good friend when you can email her at some point in the middle of the night and say, “Okay, so I have this body here, and I need to know how to disguise the time of death,” and that’s all you say… and she writes back and tells you how. No questions asked. I’m pretty sure she’d help me hide the body, if she lived closer. You know, if I were a psychopath or something. Which I am not. Yet. (But may be, if Squarespace doesn’t upload these photos faster.)

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Okay, I have to say, I love the gnomes. And I never thought I’d write that in a sentence. But author / columnist and regular ‘Rati commenter Gayle Carline says:

1. The gnomes, Booker and Hatch. Booker carries a book with him and encourages me to write well. Hatch carries a hatchet and threatens to chop fingers if I don’t finish that f*&#@ing book.

2. Two phones, a cell and the landline, because I’d hate to miss that call from the agent who discovered me on the Internet and wants to introduce my fabulousness to the rest of the world.

3. The LA Times Crossword puzzle. Shut up, it helps me think.

4. The coin purse with my credit card in it, when I have to order stuff to help me. Like software, or books. Or shoes.

5. My little notebook, filled with crap I scribbled while I was waiting at the car wash/doctors office/son’s guitar lesson.

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J.M. Kelley (who just had her first sale–JM, tell us about it in the comments and I’ll add the title here)… who is also one of our much loved commenters, says of her space, “My workspace is tiny, to say the least. I have about a six foot area I can call my own. My desk is there to store my computer, or to be used when I don’t end up slumping on the bed in the background to write. When I’m not writing, I’m worshiping Joss Whedon, and as you can tell from the photo, blatantly ignoring the fact that my laptop’s screen is long overdue for a cleaning. I’m a bad, bad writer, and rarely construct any outlines to reference, so that little whiteboard in the picture is my sole source of all info I need to keep continuity. The dry erase penguin does not endorse this behavior. Since I’m a raging insomniac, I do my best writing at night and into the wee hours of the morning. You know it’s a bad night when you see an Australian pop up in your buddy list and they message to ask what the *bleep* you’re doing up so late. Eventually I crash and burn for a couple hours, then I drag myself out of bed again, tired and haggard, to do my daily (fruitless) job searching and resume sending. And then I rush back to the desk when the next plot bunny hops into my head and start the whole process over again.”

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Catherin Shipton, another of the beloved ‘Rati commenters has both an untethered writing location (I love this deck!) and a tethered one, her office, of which she says, “my desk and my office were used a lot throughout my degree. Almost every bit of work produced came from there. A hideously long project I did at a business incubator was completed there. This place has seen some major sweat hours.

Then my trusty pc died the week after I graduated. So far nothing fiction based has come from the laptop in this space. I think I might need to get a bit of sage and burn off the old vibes. Or maybe I’m just a bit too in love with being able to switch to places that aren’t quite so tight now I have a laptop.”

(Catherine, I want that fan. Brand name?)

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And our wonderful friend, Laura from Victoria, Australia, “run the service desk at Robinsons Bookshop in Frankston.” Have we mentioned how much we love booksellers? Love. Love. LOVE. [Which reminds me… Fran? You should send me something on Seattle Mystery Bookshop to include here. :)… me? pushy? nah.)

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This is from PK the Bookeemonster, who’s another one of our much loved ‘Rati’s. She explains, “This is a photo of my workplace at the job (Dept of Labor – Unemployment Insurance Division). I’m in a room full of cubicles, set up in three groups of quads. Luckily, right behind me is a wall of windows which looks out onto the neighborhood (yes, little houses) and the Rims. (ah, let’s see, the Rims are a sandstone bluff that runs along the northern border of Billings — picture attached). I’m on the second floor so I like to swing around and see what’s happening in the world outside. In my cubicle, I try to have “book-ish” things around me: a clock in the shape of three books standing together (to the right), four posters of books in front of me right above the monitors, and I always have my Kindle in between my monitors and if I”m currently reading a book book I place it on the right-hand desk. In my little clique of co-workers, we’ve named our cubicles and someone made little signs to put up on the outside wall; mine is appropriately “The Library”, as my love of reading is well known.”

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Gayle Lynds, author of taut, razor sharp thrillers such as THE LAST SPYMASTER has her latest out, titled: THE BOOK OF SPIES Gayle’s in transition herself, so it seemed fitting that her work space sits sort of between the untethered and the tethered, and as she explains, “I’m in the process of moving from California to Maine to be with my fab boyfriend, John. This has been an adventure in culture shock. For instance, I’ve given up my red Jaguar for a red pickup truck, planted flowers and veggies, and made moose burgundy. (What else can one do with moose?) I’m in Maine now, having brought with me just exactly the research I needed for the book I’m writing. My cockpit office is on the second floor, a corner of our bedroom, and looks out on beautiful white birch. It’s tranquil but conducive to work. I like it a lot.”

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Fellow ‘Rati friend Jude Hardin says of his space, “I’m somewhat of a minimalist, and I like to keep my space clutter-free. I compose all my fiction here, listen to music, blog hop and so forth. I spend a good portion of the day in this chair when I’m not at my “real” job, and I even eat my lunch here most of the time.” I think he’s got such a perfect office that would work for so many people, especially in busy households. I just wish I could be as minimalist. Of course, Jude could be hiding bodies behind those walls. (grin) Jude’s book, POCKET 47 has a fabulous blurb by our own Tess Gerritsen and is coming out in May, 2011.

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We’re continuing the minimalist theme for a moment here with Spencer Seidel‘s workspace. Spencer, a regular beloved contributor in the comments section says of his place, “As if you can’t tell, I’m a minimalist. The only unique aspect of it is that I have a framed saying on my wall (“Just write the damn book”), which I turn to whenever I start coming up with silly reasons NOT to finish a current draft. I wrote Dead of Wynter right here, which is going to be published next May.”

[Oh, go check out his blog–the front page has these fabulous photos of huge desks at libraries made from books.]

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Now this is Karin Slaughter‘s office. It’s bright and cheerful (I love the green) and just doesn’t seem like the office of someone who writes such twisted thrillers about brutal, cold-blooded murder, now, does it? Check out her latest riveting novel, BROKEN.

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And this Karen is one of our favorite ‘Rati commenters, Karen from Ohio, who explains, “Here’s my lovely little Arts & Crafts desk that I rescued from an elderly aunt’s ancient and creaky furniture she left us. It was in very bad shape, but cleaned up well, and makes a graceful addition to my day. It’s right in front of a big picture window overlooking our very private front yard (that’s why there are binoculars on the desk, in case a hawk lands in a tree). As long as it isn’t too cold it’s a great spot.”

I want this room. (sigh)

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This, as many of you will recognize, is T. Jefferson Parker, beloved by the ‘Rati and cited often on lists of “favorite authors,” especially with such works like IRON RIVER.

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Now, this very zen-like office belongs to Lisa Unger, who writes dark dark thrillers, like her latest one out, titled FRAGILE. I love the lighting, the wall color, and I think that glass treatment on the door is a brilliant solution to bringing light into a room without bringing in unwanted views. I may adapt that here. [Um, because this is all about me.]

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Jeff Abbott, fellow SAINTS fan (and therefore, a perfect human being, thank you), (hey, this is my blog, get’cher own pulpit)… anyway, Jeff’s latest out is TRUST ME. Here’s what he says about his office, “The first one is looking at my desk from the front door of the studio. Desk is a little messy right now, mostly because I have been writing downstairs since wife went back to work (she works at elementary school and goes back earlier than the kids do). I have had to write downstairs watching my sons. My studio is above our garage and only accessible through a outside stairway. Normally my blinds are up but I’ve had them down because they’re so pretty and it’s hot as hell.

Second is looking at my desk. Note to self on purple post it note read “Take pic for Toni”. Since I have been downstairs most of the week that was not a helpful self-reminder. 🙂 I get asked all the time about the carpet: they are tiles, multicolored, so we could create our own flooring pattern. My amazing wife found them, they are often used in design studios, schools, offices.”

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Jeff (remember, perfect human) is joined by fellow perfect human (read: SAINTS FAN) Erica Spindler — author of BLOOD VINES — in loving those unusual shaped desks. I think I looked at this photo three times before I saw the skull. Here’s Erica’s:

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If I had had all of the photos included here emailed to me anonymously and someone told me that one of them belonged to our regular and much loved commenter billie, I would have picked this one as hers. And not just because of the horses outside, watching over her, but for the serenity in this image. She says, “pony is saying ‘stop writing about magical ponies and get out here and get this blasted grazing muzzle off me before I starve to death!’ He has to wear one this time of year.”

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I love the efficiency of Dudley Forster’s desk here–Dudley’s one of our beloved (yes, I’m using that word frequently, but really, you guys don’t realize how much we appreciate you being here)… regulars. I especially love Dudley’s cat, McDuff. Isn’t that just the perfect name?

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Now this one surprised me, mostly because my eye wandered over to the left and I saw that other box and screen. Regular sweetheart Debbie explains, “My den is 8×8 and I share it with two children, their computer and books, a piano, and the family cats who think that my tower case is theirs. Pictured is Brontё and yes, there are chocolates in that Godiva bag thanks to hubby! The machine beside my computer is for enlarging print (I’m blind) but when writing, I mostly depend on adaptive software that produces speech in an amazingly human voice.”

Debbie’s got tenacity and talent–I know we’ll be seeing her books on the shelves one day!

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Sandy Toepel, one of our fabulous regular commenters sent these photos, and I love the light and the bookshelves and the neat antiques she’s got around the room. She says, “This is my room of accomplishments and challenges. Once, this was where I corrected tens of thousands of papers and created tens of thousands of lesson plans. Now, it is where I am attempting composition of a different sort.” And I see that “tens of thousands” in that description and nearly plotz. You know, we don’t really think about all of the extra work our teachers go through during their hours at home in addition to all of the hours in front of those classrooms. Thank God for teachers. I know I couldn’t do it–I don’t have the patience or the temperament or the stamina for that kind of constant interaction with people who can actually talk back. (Unlike my imaginary people. Who can talk back, but can’t throw spitwads, so there’s a plus.)

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Lisa Gardner is sweet, funny, smart, sharp, and an amazing writer. I’m not sure if it was her great laugh or warm personality, but I had a hard time reconciling myself that this was the same woman who wrote books so scary, blood-tingling that I wanted to read with my hands mostly covering my eyes. Just goes to show you, looks deceive. Check out her latest, LIVE TO TELL.

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I have to tell this story. I first met Cindy Gerard at my first St. Martin’s Press cocktail party. I was terrified. I knew no one and my agent had had to leave, and I was on my own. Now I’m better in crowds at conferences, but if you’ve never been to an RWA conference, it’s hard to explain the magnitude. And the cocktail parties are usually on Friday nights, so you’ve had a good three days to be completely overwhelmed. Cindy must’ve seen the dear-in-the-headlights look, as she came over, struck up a conversation, and impressed me as one of the nicest and funniest people. I had to confess I didn’t know her books yet, but I took a bookmark and when I got home, I bought one. You know, hoping she’d be a decent writer.

And I was blown away. Here was someone who was writing terrific sexy action / romance with great characters and witty, smart dialog and I devoured her whole backlist. I’m lucky to count her as a friend today, and she exemplifies the class and pay-it-forward attitude I hope to live up to.

Go get her latest: RISK NO SECRETS

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You know, I think Jonathan Maberry wins, hands down, for coolest set of collectibles. How can you not love a guy who has everything from dragons to dinosaurs to demented rubber ducks? You know, really? You want to go read his books, right now, just looking at that office. And his laugh. 😉 So go check out his latest, WANTED: UNDEAD OR ALIVE

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When I first saw these photos of David Morrell‘s office, I thought, “oooh, retreat!” and it has that peaceful vibe to it, doesn’t it? Which just does not explain the mind that can come up with the twisted, hypnotic, heart-stopping thriller stories that he does, but like Lisa Gardner, looks can be deceiving. Check out his latest, THE SHIMMER and I encourage writers to poke around his website (linked to his name above) — it’s got some great perspective on the industry and the changes we’re seeing.

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And finally, last, but not least, is Lee Child‘s beautiful office in New York. Lee’s the author of the famous Jack Reacher novels, and he explains his space thusly: “My office is a separate apartment, in the same building, but 18 floors below where I live, in NYC. Major productivity tip: a separate desk and computer for the internet. Major luxury: a separate desk for handwriting and page-proof reading, without a keyboard or monitor to get in the way.”

When I got a glimpse there to the left of his view, I commented that I didn’t know how he focused. He then sent me this photo, and explained that he focused with “rigorous self-discipline.”

And what a perfect way to end this round-up. Rigorous self-discipline–no matter where you are, no matter what your workspace is. Dedication to excellence and rigorous self-discipline is what gets us from page one to THE END, one word at a time.